Give it Up!

Ephesians 2: 22 & 24

In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self . . . and put on the new self.

Here we are in February. How are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions? How is your willpower holding out? Well, here’s the deal, willpower isn’t the thing anyway. In fact, one might go so far to say that it is rebellion from God.

We are not supposed to be self-willed. I think you can see that in the verse above. We are supposed to be people who are surrendered to God. We are instructed to lay aside our old self and the power we think we have. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord,” (Zechariah 4: 6). Christians are supposed to succeed not by their own might, nor by their own power but by the Spirit of the Lord. So, willpower is the exact opposite of the power we are meant to employ.

Every year we condemn and criticize ourselves because our willpower has failed us. Or, even worse, maybe we enjoy some success by utilizing the force of our own will. That, my beloved, is the greatest failure of all, and it grieves me. I hear people summoning up their will to accomplish some task and I know they will ultimately experience the greatest failure of all.

Success is in surrender. I know this will make you uncomfortable. It does me as well but then, I find that a great many of the things our Father asks of me make me uncomfortable, initially. It is more comfortable to rely on our own strength and determination than to meekly and humbly surrender control to anyone, even God. It takes humility in our hearts and honesty to surrender control to God. It is truly a humbling experience. It is also one of those experiences which is best lived daily. Every time we surrender a bit of ourselves, if we are honest and truly give in to the process, we find there is more surrender needed.

Our greatest strength is in admitting we have none. Even Jesus said he could do nothing without the Father and yet somehow, we believe we can lose weight, resist sin, be kind to others, and so on, in our own strength.

Please, take a moment to think about the goals you set for yourself for this year. What are you going to do to accomplish them? The answer you should now know is that you are going to give them to God and ask Him to show the way. Give him your goals, dreams, and ambitions. Ask Him to help you be the person you want to be. You cannot change yourself. You make think you can, but you are fooling yourself. He is the master and creator and if we will give our hearts to Him, He will create all that we want. Let Him work in your heart. Lay yourself open in surrender. Give Him the problems you would like to see changed. Vanquish willpower. Give away all your power because it is vanity and futility anyway. The Lord said only by His Spirit shall a thing be done, so there is the one sentence instruction and command for succeeding in all things.

Willpower and self-determination are idols raised up against the will of God. The power of self is an affront to the command of God but also to the love, grace and saving blood of our Lord Jesus. It’s not what you can do that is important. It’s what you can let go of that makes the difference. Surrender your power. Surrender your heart. Let Jesus be Lord.

Did this make sense to you today? Do you have questions or need help? Engage in personal coaching at Ivey Ministries.

Newness of Life

Romans 6: 4

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Yesterday we looked at the sixth verse of this chapter which was about crucifying our old self. As we see today, that is not the end. After self is crucified, it is supposed to be buried. The problem many of us have is that we keep digging up that old man. The newness of life, however, is in our death, burial and subsequent resurrection, not in digging up the dead.

We die “so we too might walk in newness of life.” Picture the old you, the you that you grew up knowing, nailed to the cross with Jesus. It may be a bit macabre but it also highlights an important spiritual reality. Watch as the deceased “old you” is removed from the cross and laid in a tomb with Jesus. You are dead and buried. Then see what happens when Jesus arises from the dead. Are you awakened by his stirrings? You arise with him. The old life is gone but here is a new life, a renewal through Jesus. You are born of his resurrection and of his new life. You are a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away.

Get a picture in your mind of how this new you looks. Is there a new countenance to your face? Do you perceive something new or different about yourself? This dying to self and burying the crucified flesh is not just a cute story or analogy. God would tell you this is the real deal. He is trying to show you the reality of what is happening in the spiritual world. You can have newness of life – you were meant to, but it comes in this strange wrapping of death, burial and resurrection, I mean actual death, actual burial and actual resurrection. Although these are spiritual realities that does not make them any less real than physical realities and in truth, they are more powerful than the physical because the spiritual realm trumps the physical.

If you can wrap your head around these verses and not treat them as mere analogies, then you can arise with new breath and every fiber of your being will react to the new life within you.

Rightful Reliance

Habakkuk 2: 4

Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.

There are quite a few observations we can receive from the prophet Habakkuk. One of the first is that the proud person and the righteous person are not one in the same. That may seem obvious but perhaps we have not yet made that connection intellectually. We can be either arrogant or righteous but not both.

Secondly, Habakkuk tells us that an arrogant or proud person is not right on the inside. There is something amiss in their soul. This is really tragic. There is damage on the inside and this damage or unresolved injury prevents this person from being righteous. Now in the New Testament, Jesus is our righteousness so one might argue that righteousness still belongs to the arrogant or self-centered person because of Jesus. The problem with that argument is that this righteousness, which was purchased for us by Jesus, must still be received. The arrogant person can no more receive the grace of God’s righteousness through Jesus than he was able to do under the old covenant. God has always been the source of righteousness. We must die to self, take our eyes off of ourselves and live unto Christ if we want to walk in the blessing of Christ. All the blessings are provided for us but they are “in Christ” where we too are supposed to be. We cannot be into ourselves and into Christ. One might even ask how a person can be a Christian, a follower of The Way, with eyes, motivation and passion focused on oneself instead of on the Christ.

Lastly, the self-absorbed person cannot live by faith. Faith is in the rightness provided for us in Christ Jesus. That means that an arrogant person cannot also be a person of faith. This person, even if he confesses to be a Christian will be unable to live and walk under the umbrella of faith. Faith begins with Jesus. Faith comes through an end to self-reliance and a surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of Christ (Romans 10: 17). Faith, therefore, requires submission to the person of Jesus. Faith requires that we put our egos, ideas, thoughts, reasonings and truly all that we are behind the words of Christ. That necessarily means that we cannot be self-absorbed, self-impressed or self-sustaining and also reliant on the person and words of Jesus. We must take the idol of our intellect off of the throne of our hearts and ensconce Jesus there.

Not one of us wants to admit that we are arrogant because only fools are such. Whatsmore, I may find it quite easy to lie to myself in this regard, but here is the question I must consider, that is, not whether I believe or think myself to be arrogant but rather what others may say about me. If I can be completely honest with myself do I suspect that others might find me self-impressed. Oh dear God in heaven, save me from myself. Repentance brings the oil of gladness and repentance means nothing more than turning and going the other way, it means a change of heart, a change of mind. It does not mean travail or moaning and groaning. Just let Jesus and his word change your way of thinking. Be saved by the renewal of your thoughts, by the refreshing of your mind and be free from the burden of yourself.

God’s Classroom

Philippians 2: 3 – 5

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.   Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

This is so counter-cultural that, frankly, it is difficult for us to incorporate it into our lifestyle. We are actually supposed to put the needs and desires of others before our own wants. For most of us this is beyond difficult. In truth, we rarely even recognize the opportunities which pass by us, opportunities to be a little less selfish. I received one of those opportunities recently and it gave me a chance to examine whether my theology was integrated into my lifestyle or just a collection of pretty thoughts and ideals.

I had to take my car in for routine maintenance. I took my book hoping that I could get a little of my class reading done while awaiting my car. Well, there is a television in the waiting room. I usually prefer not to have a television on so that I can read without distraction. But you know what – it’s not all about me. There were other people there waiting for their cars too. At first it appeared that no one was listening to the TV so I was going to ask them if they minded me turning the volume down. No sooner, however, did I think that thought than this scripture came to mind. Why did the situation need to revolve around my desires or even needs. “Well,” I thought, “if no one is listening to it, what does it bother for me to ask?” But God responded to me instantly. Have you ever noticed that when you really don’t want to hear God it is really easy to hear His voice? Well, anyway, God showed me that the other people there, though they did not appear to be paying attention to the TV, might be enjoying having it on in the background. If I had asked they likely would have consented even though it wasn’t what they wanted. My pursuit of my desires would have put them in an awkward position where they may feel compelled to consent. Why should the world bend and contort to meet my perceived needs?

All of this happened in a flash but I knew this was a point of personal growth. What was more important to me, reading my Christian book for my doctorate in Theology or living my theology? Was it better to put my need for silence at the forefront or to let Jesus lead me and teach me about his divine outlook? Happily Dad spoke in my ear before I could open my mouth. Would it have been a huge sin had I put my needs first? Well, I don’t know. A sin is a sin, isn’t it? I don’t think Dad would have been horribly mad at me but He would see that I just wasn’t ready to grow up. 

As it turns out, I learned more not getting to do my homework than had I imposed my will on the others. Look around you today. Are there ways you can be a blessing to others? Maybe it is just about not being so concerned about what you want or what you perceive you need. There is an opportunity out there for each of us. I hope you find yours.

The Seed of Life

John 12: 24

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

No one wants to die but if we die to Jesus, giving him our lives, then we are born anew of incorruptible seed which bears much fruit.

Jesus was talking about giving up his life, dying, so that he might bear much fruit. Only through death does the wheat generate new life. So it is with us. When we lay down our lives God creates a new life with that seed. We are reborn in the image of Christ. This is not, however, primarily a salvation message unless you embrace the full definition of salvation. When Jesus speaks of salvation he means saving grace in absolutely every area of our lives, in every aspect of human experience. 

Paul wrote about this need to lay down our lives and live to Christ. He said “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4: 22, 24). You see, there must be a continual surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. We must continually bury our self-induced desires and put on the mantle of Christ. In other words, this dying to self is, at least for most of us, a continuing process. Few people have the ability to once and for all give everything to Christ. Typically we grow in our spiritual life and as we do we find things which we are ready to release to him. The central theme is that we must crucify this flesh which seeks only to indulge self. It seeks to satisfy and promote the ego. When, however, we take on the crucifixion of our Lord, we bury the selfish desires and live unto him. We seek to honor and promote him. The only way to do this, though, is to die. And when we do, he raises us anew. Each time we bury a self-oriented aspect of our personalities he raises up a glorified version. Then there is no more striving for then we can truly walk in his grace. Our eyes become fixed on him and we live in him. 

This may sound mystical and other worldly but it really is as simple as taking our eyes off of ourselves. We may notice how often we use the pronoun “I” and surrender those areas to our Christ. We may notice when our vision is full of ourselves instead of on the kingdom and pray for help in crucifying the carnal person. The key is that when we die, we live. Everything that we bury, Jesus resurrects in new and glorious life. We never lose anything. We gain everything.

Please search your heart today. Is your energy spent satisfying your needs and desires or are you truly devoted to Christ today? Is he your focus and desire? Is your work dedicated to him, your leisure, your home life, your thought life? Are your songs a testimony to him? How about the words you speak? I am not saying that you cannot have anything for yourself. I am only saying for you to let him give them to you instead of you seeking them.